We had a small, informal focus group in here last night where we put photos (but not prices or specs) in front of four athletes at the end of their first year in the sport. These athletes could be characterized in our industry as the prime “step-up” customers. These people do not own triathlon specific bikes. At the end of their first season in the sport, ranging from 1 to 8 races this year and ability levels from AG winner to BOP’er, they are ground zero in the battle for market share.
Bike companies: This is your target.
This is what they told us ( in part). When shown photos of a companies new models and asked to tell us the price, they guessed $300 low on entry level models and about right on models from $3000-$4000. The visual impact of carbon fiber added significant value or “priceability” to a bicycle. We heard things like, “It’s carbon… it must be at least $4000…” Up specing wheels is a waste of time and money. This focus group did not differentiate between a bike equipped with a $1000 wheelset and a bike equipped with a $200 wheelset. They saw no value (on their own) in the up spec wheels. The one exception was a bike shown with a specific brand of race wheel that garnered signiicant brand recognition. Aluminum is unversally (in this focus group) regarded as either “bad” or a compromise. When shown individual elements of graphics, i.e.- not the specific logos but fonts used in individual logos the kiss of death was any typeface used in a logo that has serifs on it. The fonts that people were attracted to were borrowed from currently fashionable and media savy sources such as VH-1. MTV and CNN. When they were finally shown the complete logos of the actual companies the logos without serifs on the typeface were well received. The ones with serifs were regarded as “dated”. The ones received best were using rounded corners on their typefaces and had lots of angular but parallel lines. One word names are best. One syllable names are best. Refering to bike models with alpha-numeric designations or words in common vernacular is the easiet designation for consumers to remember. Model names that are difficult to pronounce, vaguely foreign language sounding or of some geographical significance (such as the popular theme of Italian cities) is not compelling to customers in terms of helping them remember the name. The focus group said they are most likely to spend “Less than $2000 and upgrade later”. They said the difference between a road bike and tri bike is that a “Tri bike is built for speed and a road bike is built for comfort”. The consensus is that all tri bike have aero tubes. One respondent said, “It isn’t a tri bike unless it’s aero.” The respondents did not like any graphics package that featured trim that “looked like tin foil”.
so now that we know what un-educated, or under-educated consumers want…it is up to the experts to know what we “NEED”. I agree 100% about the wheels…wheels are like religion and I think that Feelt did a dis-service to anyone who got the clincher 404’s on the B2…why not tubulars? Why not let the consumer (or shop) pick?
I always find consumer feed back to be neat and all…but like most things, I am no expert and would rather have a company make the bike I need and make it right - as opposed to make a bike that looks good to the under educated consumer (and yes, I know that if they didnt use colors and names that we like they would all be out of business).
The visual impact of carbon fiber added significant value or “priceability” to a bicycle. We heard things like, “It’s carbon… it must be at least $4000…”
Did you ask what they thought they were worth/what they’d pay for it, or did you ask what they thought the price would be? In other words, did carbon fiber increase how much they’d pay or how much they thought it would cost?
oh, don’t get me started on focus groups. i’ve seen to many great advertising campaigns get killed by them. i know this is a bit different but i was just reading a blog from another ad guy (americancopywriter.typepad.com) , i’ll quote in part:
“focus groups are biased to favor the known over the unknown - the familiar over the unfamiliar.”
“asking people to explain their feelings is asking them to explain a visceral reaction - something that happens in the subconcious.”
“asking people to explain their feelings can actually change their feelings.”
oh, don’t get me started on focus groups. i’ve seen to many great advertising campaigns get killed by them. i know this is a bit different but i was just reading a blog from another ad guy (americancopywriter.typepad.com) , i’ll quote in part:
“focus groups are biased to favor the known over the unknown - the familiar over the unfamiliar.”
“asking people to explain their feelings is asking them to explain a visceral reaction - something that happens in the subconcious.”
“asking people to explain their feelings can actually change their feelings.”
And then there is the whole “group think” issue or not wanting to like stupid in front of others. You get richer information from indepth one on one interviews.
But this was an “informal” group and I doubt Tom is getting paid for the results. It appears like it was just for fun so no harm done.
I could easily be from that focus group…I’m working on my first year and looking to buy up this winter. I’ve been trying to research what’s best for me at this point…and the one question that I battle with, am I really worth a full carbon frame. I, more than likely, would not be able to afford one anyway but it leaves me with…the compromise Alu/carbon frame.
I have a question from my little focus group of one…does compromise have to equal “bad”??? Specifically when talking about a Guru Flite, from a company that’s praised on your site for their quality aluminum and craftmanship.
Is it really such an inferiour material…and if so, why do so many bikes get sold made from it? Educate me. And if you all sell me on the full carbon…I’ll be taking donations for the new bike;O).
“Is it really such an inferiour material…and if so, why do so many bikes get sold made from it?”
This is exactly the questions product managers, ad copy writers, web designers and others need to answer for the consumer.
The fact that the “lore” of materials remains so mysterious to consumers is a huge failing on the part of the industry.
Based on your comments about our website and review of the Guru Cron-Alu (thank you for your kind words) we are one of the ony ones in the industry addressing that question…
"I agree 100% about the wheels…wheels are like religion and I think that Feelt did a dis-service to anyone who got the clincher 404’s on the B2…why not tubulars? Why not let the consumer (or shop) pick?"
Well, bike companies have to sell something. The problem is, some design firms get confused with being bike companies. Some frame builders think they are bike companies.
In general, we find that as the bike price point creeps north that consumers become increasingly insistent on exerting greater control over product spec.
One of the respondents asked me, “Do you mean the price of the bike, or what I would be willing to pay for it?”
In reply to that I just said, “Well, give me your best guess of what the price is…”
In that case, your original statement “The visual impact of carbon fiber added significant value or “priceability” to a bicycle.” is incorrect. A more correct statement might be “the visual impact of carbon fiber added significantly to the perceived cost of a bicycle”, right?
i hope this isn’t too simple a question for you, but regarding fonts, but what in the heck is a “typeface used in a logo that has serifs”?
more precisely, what is a ‘serif’?
Serifs Sans-serif font Serif font Serif font (serifs
highlighted in red)
One can sub-divide fonts into two main categories: those of serif and sans-serif fonts. Serifs comprise the small features at the end of strokes within letters. The printing industry refers to typeface without serifs as sans-serif (from French sans: “without”), or as grotesque (or, in German, grotesk). See serif for etymological notes.
Great variety exists among both serif and sans-serif fonts; both groups contain faces designed for setting large amounts of body text, and others intended primarily as decorative. The presence or absence of serifs forms only one of many factors to consider when choosing a font.
Typefaces with serifs are often considered easier to read in long passages than those without. Studies on the matter are ambiguous, suggesting that most of this effect is due to the greater familiarity of serif typefaces. As a general rule, printed works such as newspapers and books almost always use serif fonts, at least for the text body. Web sites do not have to specify a font and can simply respect the browser settings of the user. But of those websites that do specify a font, most use modern sans-serif fonts such as Verdana, because it is commonly believed that, in contrast to the case for printed material, sans-serif fonts are easier than serif fonts to read on computer screens due to their lower resolution.
That’s a good question. In the photo below the fonts used in the purple text box in yellow and white that read “My Yahoo! The Front Page to your World” do not use any serifs.
The logo on the front page of The New York Times newspaper the man is reading features the Times logo in their typical typeface which features a lot of serifs. Serifs are basically the little curvy, decorative protrusions from the corners of some letters. This is dated look. In bicycle logos people are looking for logos and graphis that feature a more current look, akin to the typefaces used in the purple text box as opposed to the older New York Times logo.
Imagine that. Have $ 1,500.00 - you get what you can get. Want to spend $ 4,500.00 - you get what you want.
Think of it in terms of a new car base price for a “Tri type” (meaning tri bikes cost more in general or are sports cars) car $ 25,000.00 multiply that by 3 you get $ 75,000.00. I don’t know about you, but at the bottom of the barrel I’m OK with fabric and 4cyl. The extra dough gets me a car that nobody else has.
Sans-serif font 
Serif font 
Serif font (serifs